It was a very difficult atmosphere for the Lady Longhorns as Hampton fans packed the bleachers last week in a fierce on the road loss. Despite the disadvantage, Johnson County put up a strong fight that saw them actually lead in the first quarter only to fall behind the rest of the way.

Brooke Brown proved to be the Lady Longhornís key offensive player once again, scoring three buckets and a free throw in the first quarter to earn 7 of her teamís 12 points for the period. The Lady Bulldogs were never far behind and even though a last minute bucket put Johnson County ahead by 2, the quarter still closed out with Hampton claiming 10 points of their own.

The Lady Longhorns offensive changed gears in the second quarter with most of the shots coming from Brionna Reece right under the net. While this strategy can easily end up sending Reece to the foul line, the junior player is typically a very accurate shot. As result, by halftime alone Reece had added six more free throws and two buckets to her record, pushing the Longhorns up to 22 on the scoreboard with help from Mary Taylor and Sarah Swift.

While Johnson County was able to hold the Lady Bulldogs defensively in the first quarter, the second was exactly the opposite. Turnovers and simple mistakes cost dearly, giving Hampton all the opportunity they needed to take back the lead early on and put enough cushion between them and their opponents to ultimately seal the win. Outscoring the Lady Longhorns 17-10 in the second quarter, Johnson County came into the third desperately needing to contest every Hampton shot while landing all of their own.

Yet, to the dismay of the coaches and fans in the audience, this was not the case. As has happened throughout the season, the third quarter proved to be the worst of all for Johnson County. Scoring just nine points for the whole eight-minute period, the Lady Longhorns simply could not get back on track offensively. At the same time Hampton continued their strong performance from before the half, landing 16 points overall and climbing into the low 40ís. Even a late three pointer from Brooke Brown could do little to stem the tide and with two baskets from Brandy Dugger, the Lady Longhorns entered the last quarter trailing 31-43.

To read the rest of the article, pick up a copy of this week's Tomahawk.